Dryness and moisture meters

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enchant

Member
Nov 5, 2016
107
Marshfield, MA
I was going to reply on another recent thread, but I didn't want to hijack it. So I'll start my own.

In the past, I've always depended on the kindness of strangers to tell me how seasoned the wood is. I mean, I can pick up a piece, feel that it's fairly light and be convinced that it's dry, and another heavy piece and know it's green. But precisely how dry is it?

Looking on Amazon, I see moisture readers as cheap as $12 and others for nearly $40. Is there a "preferred" meter that I'd be better off buying?

I've asked a couple of local firewood sellers about the moisture content. I might as well have been asking for the birth dates of the trees. None of them knew, and I have to wonder if they even knew what a "good" moisture content would be. They say they're seasoned, but who knows what that actually means. And even if I asked them how long they've been seasoning, how can I trust the answers? If I was younger, stronger and had a lot more flat property, I'd just keep buying green a couple years out.

One more question. Ok, I'm hoping for about 20% for seasoned firewood. What reading should I expect if it's freshly cut? I guess I'm trying to figure how long I have to season wood at a specific moisture content. e.g., if someone is selling "seasoned" firewood and it's 35%, might another six months get it down to what I need?
 
A lot of members here have basic meters from one of the big box stores, including myself. They work just fine. In order to get an accurate reading though you need to bring a piece inside and bring it up to room temperature. Then split it and take a reading on the freshly split side. As far as fresh cut moisture content I would think it depends on the species. Just about any species of wood is going to take at least a year to season with hardwoods taking longer. Oak roughly two to three years. If you are in dire need of seasoned wood you can try and find someone with a kiln who is willing to run a load for you. Otherwise it's probably off to tractor supply for bio bricks for this season